Prison term for Waiehu man who ‘did everything he could’ to harass family

March 9, 2013

WAILUKU - A 28-year-old Waiehu man, who a judge said "did everything he could" to ruin a family's life by repeatedly harassing them and breaking two of their car windows, was sentenced to a three-year prison term Wednesday.

Second Circuit Judge Richard Bissen also ordered Dana Ikaika Valdez to pay $350 in restitution and gave him credit for the 134 days he has already served in jail.

Bissen waived the crime victim compensation fees for Valdez because he said that the defendant received the maximum sentence in the case.

During sentencing, Bissen said Valdez has no regard for the law, court orders or the safety of others or himself.

Valdez has no explanation for his actions, Bissen added. He said Valdez did not want to participate in preparing a pre-sentence report, telling a worker, "'I don't want probation; I want to do jail.'"

"He did everything he could to ruin their lives, really," Bissen said of Valdez's victims.

Valdez declined to say anything in court.

In January, a 2nd Circuit jury acquitted Valdez of a felony threatening charge and instead found him guilty of three lesser charges of second-degree terroristic threatening, a misdemeanor, for threatening to kill his neighbors during an incident on Oct. 23.

Valdez also was found guilty of disorderly conduct, third-degree criminal property damage and four counts of violating an injunction against harassment. Valdez was acquitted on two counts of abuse of his own family members, who didn't show up to testify at the trial.

Bissen presided over the trial.

On Sept. 26, Rosalie Fernandez reported receiving a Facebook message from Valdez in violation of the injunction. Police responded and told Fernandez that Valdez had been told to stop.

On Oct. 23 around 8 p.m. on Onaha Street in Waiehu, a neighbor saw Valdez standing outside the Fernandez home shouting and yelling with a cigarette in one hand and a gas can in the other, which he slammed together.

The neighbor said that he heard Valdez making threats to kill that he believed were directed at the Fernandez family.

One of the Fernandez family members, Brandon, 18, who returned home later, said that he was accosted in his driveway by Valdez, who also chased him around vehicles.

Valdez threatened to kill Brandon Fernandez and his parents, who came out of the house because of the commotion.

In asking for a three-year prison term, Deputy Prosecutor Jerrie Sheppard said just a month after Valdez violated an injunction against him to not contact the Fernandez family, "he terrorizes that family for at least 40 minutes."

"It was a nightmare that continued and continued until he was arrested," Sheppard said.

Sheppard told the court that the Fernandez family had asked for a five-year prison term for Valdez.

Deputy Public Defender Jim Rouse, who did not handle the jury trial for Valdez, but handled Wednesday's sentencing, noted that Valdez was not found guilty of a felony.

He said the defense recognizes that Valdez does need anger management treatment and also asked that Valdez be given one-year probation term and six months in jail.